Typical semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) designs require that some circuit components be electrically isolated from other circuit components within the design to avoid deleterious electrical interactions such as shorting or cross-talk. One method of isolating circuit components uses shallow trench isolation (STI) to separate these regions. Also in some IC designs, such as three-dimensional IC designs, through-substrate vias (TSV) are created connecting front-side circuitry to the substrate's back-side.